During the Second World War a camp for the German armed forces was located here, in which captured British prisoners of war had been kept. In May 1945 groups of resistance fighters freed those prisoners.

The Murtalbahn steam train is a historic part of the town, as well as one of its tourist attractions. Since 2002, the annual festival Shakespeare in Styria presents productions of Shakespeare plays in the town's Festival Hall, in the Courtyard of the Murau Castle as well as at the Domenig Pavillon in the park of the town. Young actors from all over Europe are directed by experienced British directors.

Shakespeare in Styria is an annual open-air Shakespeare festival in Murau. The festival was founded in 2002 by British born theatre manager Nicholas Allen and Austrian writer Rudolph J. Wojta. Each year it presents another play performed by young actors and actresses from all over Europe. In the early years of the festivals performances were in English. Since 2013 productions are performed in German and directed by Nicholas Allen and US-American sword-master Roberta Brown.